Stocks have returned to within a percent or two of their record highs, while bond yields have fallen to near-record lows, making equities’ valuations more attractive while also helping to fund share buybacks.

The policy objectives of the Federal Reserve are to promote maximum employment and stable prices. A recent call by a former top Fed official for the central bank to fight back against President Donald Trump is dangerous, Barron’s Randall W. Forsyth writes.

Now we know the real reason President Donald Trump has been so keen for the Federal Reserve to lower interest rates. It seems that the nation’s chief executive was mulling a deal out of his previous career as a real estate mogul.

The collapse of interest rates worldwide to zero and below suggests a financial world that is dark and cold. Yet the plunge in bond yields to historic lows correspondingly results in high values for many assets.